The Malnad mela

No matter which way India's seed policies are heading, the underlying purpose of
Malnad's home garden programme as a community conservation initiative for the
preservation of genetic diversity, organic agriculture, health and ecologically
sensitive livelihoods remains undiluted.
Keya Acharya
reports from northern Karnataka.

There were about 50 counters selling seeds, plant cuttings, snacks and foods
made from home-grown produce, medicinal and toiletry items again made from
home-gardens and farms, all of them organic. And all, except those invited by
the Malnad Forest Garden and Seed Keepers' Collective to the Malnad Mela, were
women. The Malnad region comprises the hills and valleys of the Sahyadri range
which is part of the Western Ghats, in northern Karnataka.

The mela was held on 10-11 June this year and has now become popular enough to be an
annual affair. It is held at an old and traditional Malnad house with local hardwood
pillars
around a central courtyard which is now used for marriages and occasions.

The Swarna group, with 12 women from Golikuppa village, about 15 kms from Sirsi
town, was set up in 2004.. They make an annual profit of Rs.10,000 from
selling seeds and plants, jackfruit chips and dried bananas called 'sukkeli',
made from the semi-wild variety called 'boodh balay'. The bananas taste rich,
like dried figs and was first manufactured by Manorama Joshi, being dehydrated
on fuel-efficient driers
manufactured by ASTRA (Application of Science and
Technology for Rural Areas) at
the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Seed Exchange at the Malnad mela. Pic: Keya Acharya.

Other products developed by Manorama, all organic and from local plant varieties
are cocum (garcinia indica) juice, organic holi colours which have found
a big market in the cities, organic copra, turmeric and ginger.

At the mela, Vimla Joshi and Bhuvaneshwari Joshi represented the 14 women from
Sonda village 20 km away. They have sold Rs.1200 worth of products in a day,
profits from which are Rs.500. "Try this powder," says a smiling Bhuvaneshwari,
handing a packet with brown powder that is indistinguishable. "It's sour,
excellent for sambars and curried vegetables and is made from 'vatehuli'.
Vatehuli is artocarpus lakoocha, a valuable multi-purpose tree native to
tropical India, used for fruit, furniture, timber and feed.

Savitri Hegde, another group leader in the remote village of Mathigatta, started
out by making cocum candy and herbal hair oil, and opened out her home and
orchards for eco-homestays. She also has a nursery of local tree saplings and a
diverse home garden, all of which she manages along with her home
responsibilities.

Elsewhere around the counters of the Malnad Mela, women from around Sirsi tell
me with pride about how they are making an income from their homestead gardens.

The Malnad Forest Garden and Seed Keepers' Collective is a community
conservation system that is the brainchild of Sunita Rao of Hutthina Beta farm
at Karkoli, about 25 km from Sirsi. Sunita, a member of Kalpavriksh who came to
Sirsi from Bangalore, was struck at the amazingly rich biodiversity of the
Malnad region. While the western ghats themselves are a biodiversity hotspot, home
to about 350 endemic plants and 324 vertebrate species the Malnad's richness
of plant and
vegetable species has unfortunately not been well-researched and
documented. (Source: Status And Conservation Of Bird Diversity In Western Ghats
Of Karnataka, South India, A K Chakravarthy, Wildlife Institute of India.
www.wii.gov.in/envis/rain_forest/chapter12.htm)

That's how Sunita decided to mobilise the women to grow, conserve and exchange
seeds from their home gardens in a bid to conserve and thereafter document them.
After hearing her, a friend, Kamla Hegde from Nirnahalli village 6 kms from
Sirsi gave her a fistful of seeds from her home garden to start the system in
2001.

The Malnad region has a unique socio-cultural system that links communities to the forests around them.

"Initially a Kalpavriksh initiative, the network has now evolved into an
independent entity with a soul of its own," says Sunita. Aside from
seed-saving and exchange, the movement now pays attention to planting forest
and horticultural tree species, with emphasis on water conservation.

So far there are 15 villages with approximately 150 women who are directly
involved in the Malnad region centering mainly in a 30-km radius around Sirsi,
in the forested belt of Karnataka's North Kanara (Uttar Kannada) district.
Indirectly however, you could add another 50 villages who work through various
organisations like NGOs or SHGs in growing and conserving local, indigenous
flower, fruit, tree and vegetable seeds. So far, the network has saved about 150
local species of vegetables and flowers, but Sunita is sure there are many, many
more still left to be got hold of, documented and saved.

The Malnad region has a unique socio-cultural system that links communities to
the forests around them. Predominantly agricultural with areca nut as the main
crop, farmers also grow paddy, pepper on the areca nut trees, cardamom and
spices, including the newly-introduced vanilla, besides growing all their own
home needs. Each house has a homestead garden surrounding the house with
vegetables, flowers and fruit trees.

The homestead garden then joins up with the 'soppina bettas', or forest lands
given since British times to areca farmers to source leaf litter for mulching
their areca trees. The British didn't want the areca, but the pepper that grew
on it trunks, and now the farmers are unwilling to give up this privilege though
the forest department has tried to wrest the lands back. 'Betta' lands at the
ratio of nine acres to every acre of areca, are 'given' to the areca land-owner
on the legal condition that he cannot alienate the land for any other purpose;
it can be passed to his descendants or divided between brothers and he can build
a home on it for his own use. Ownership of the land lies with the forest
department. Other than a few unusual cases, most betta lands are unencroached
and generally used for the areca's purpose.

Unfortunately, betta lands are now degrading because of overgrazing from
farmers' cattle and over-lopping of tree crowns and branches for litter severe
enough to stunt their growth. Furthermore, women, traditionally in charge of
homestead gardens, have lacked enough awareness to realise that they need to
conserve their seeds because of their unique qualities. The 'magekai', for
instance is a fat, watery cucumber that has a year-long shelf life when plucked,
with most homes just leaving them strewn on a cold floor.

The betta lands are, in their turn, surrounded by reserve forests, thus making
the entire fabric of living connected to the forests. "It still remains a
self-sustaining system," says 63-year-old M N Hegde, a sprightly areca farmer
known for his environmental philosophy of life.

But with smaller farmers now barely able to cover costs with the produce they
take to market, including areca, yet needing money for clothing, children's
education, marriages and other functions, farming even here is in crisis, says
Sunita. "Encouraging women to keep alive their seeds for kitchen use has thus
become a food security issue," she says.

The women grow local and indigenous amaranthus, cucumber, paddy, ragi, various
greens, gourds, and flowers like the endemic 'shankpushpi'. Seeds are kept in
cloth bags above the kitchen stove to keep them free from humidity, or kept
submerged in ash inside earthen pots to be used each season.

So far, around 60 local flower species and 150 vegetable species have been
conserved. Over 2000 packets of organic, open-pollinated seeds have already been
distributed. The network meets three times a year to catch up through a training
meet, or have fun at an outing, or exchange seeds and sell produce at the
annual 'mela'.

"We have now reached the stage where we need a central 'seed docu-bank'," says
Sunita. "All these seeds are at different villages now, they need to be
collected and documented, that's the next step," she says.

The local MLA, Vishweshwar Hegde (Ankola, BJP) from Kaggeri village, attending
the mela along with
the local Member of Parliament, Ananth Kumar Hegde (Canara,
BJP) acknowledges that the women's network is now a fair force
that the government
is now recognising.

"The government will be building 'bhavans' or community halls in 50 taluks in
the district. The women can use these halls for their purposes," says Hegde.

Vishweshwar Hegde however believes that India's new Seed Act will prove an
impediment to the dissemination of saving local seeds and species. Sunita
believes that local initiatives such as hers, one of several small ones
countrywide, mostly in agricultural rather than home-garden seeds, should not
fall afoul of the new Act which does allow farmers to conserve their own seeds,
as long as they are not branded commercially.

But the Green Foundation at Bangalore, also working on saving indigenous
agricultural seeds is quite upset at the new Seed Act's provisions which
prohibit small farmers from selling and exchanging seeds, as well as bogging
them down with a host of certifications needed for their seeds. The farmers are
thus discouraged by the host of rules to take the effort to save local seeds.

Indirectly, says the organisation, the Act is thus impacting negatively on
biodiversity. Repeated protests at various fora have so far not been heeded by
the central government. MLA Hegde also echoes the inability to get the ear of the
central government on
this. "The Act in its present form will not allow this network
to expand," is
his opinion.

But no matter which way India's policies are heading, the underlying purpose of
the home garden programme as a community conservation initiative for the
preservation of genetic diversity, organic agriculture, health and ecologically
sensitive livelihoods from sales of home-produce will be a force to reckon with,
if the network remains committed.

Keya Acharya27 June 2007

Keya Acharya is a Bangalore based development and investigative journalist.

chandra
Thank you for this wonderful article. It is good to hear about such Green initiatives; and I am with you in hoping that the network remains committed.

June 28 2007, 10:47 AM ·
0 ·
0

SHILA
It is always so good to hear about hard working rural communities---the salt of the earth.
If only all indian public thought about issues that matter to Hindustan.
Well done to the women for such profound initiative. God bless!
SHILA

July 22 2007, 7:28 PM ·
0 ·
0

sadananda
Very refreshing article.As a person involved in the environment issues of Uttra Kannada, the article confirms new possibilities. Sustainable environment and livelihood throws open many opportunities, challenges.

August 01 2007, 6:40 AM ·
0 ·
0

India Together offers an excellent forum for people from diverse fields of expertise to present their views, share their experiences and raise questions about where our country and society are headed in the future.

Amitabha Basu

Retired Scientist

National Physical

Laboratory

India Together reader

India Together offers an excellent forum for people from diverse fields of expertise to present their views, share their experiences and raise questions about where our country and society are headed in the future.

I urge all democratic-minded individuals to road, contribute to and publicise the e-newsletters from India Together. All power and success to India Together staff for their excellent and vital contribution to our society!